Chapter II — Species of Special Concern 



that long-term mark/resighting and/or radio-tagging 

 programs were required to verify this presumption and 

 that program development plans prepared by the 

 Southeast Fisheries Science Center in the late 1970s 

 and early 1980s had called for establishing long-term 

 mark/resighting programs in Sarasota Bay, Mississippi 

 Sound, and the Indian River/Banana River complex. 

 Pilot studies were initiated in each of these areas, but 

 have been continued only in the Sarasota area. 



Participants in the December 1996 program 

 review recommended that the Service identify and 

 initiate long-term longitudinal studies in additional 

 areas thought to be representative of the different 

 types of bottlenose dolphin populations that may occur 

 along the southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The 

 Commission reiterated this recommendation in its 18 

 December 1998 letter. The Commission also recom- 

 mended that the Service consult with the Environmen- 

 tal Protection Agency, the Minerals Management 

 Service, and relevant coastal state agencies to deter- 

 mine whether everything necessary is being done to 

 assess the sources, levels, and effects of anthropogenic 

 contaminants present in bottlenose dolphins along the 

 coasts of the southeastern and Gulf states. 



At the end of 1998 it was the Commission's 

 understanding that a draft conservation plan would be 

 completed and circulated for comment by the Service 

 in the first half of 1999. The Commission believes 

 that the plan should be both aggressive and proactive 

 {i.e., be designed to identify and deal with problems 

 before they have substantial biological, ecological, or 

 socioeconomic impacts). Further, the Commission 

 believes that the plan should identify the personnel, 

 financial, and other resources needed to address 

 priority research and management issues most cost- 

 effectively. The Commission will work with the 

 Service in 1999 to develop and promote implementa- 

 tion of a conservation plan that meets these objectives. 



Hawaiian Monk Seal 

 (Monachus schauinslandi) 



The Hawaiian monk seal is the most endangered 

 pinniped in U.S. waters and is second only to the 

 northern right whale as the nation's most endangered 



marine mammal. The Hawaiian monk seal population 

 currently is estimated to number about 1,300 to 1,400 

 seals, which appears to be less than half its abundance 

 in the late 1950s. The species breeds only in the 

 Hawaiian Archipelago, with most monk seals inhabit- 

 ing the remote, largely uninhabited atolls and sur- 

 rounding waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 

 (Figure 4). More than 90 percent of all pups are born 

 at six major breeding colonies located at French 

 Frigate Shoals, Laysan Island, Pearl and Hermes 

 Reef, Lisianski Island, Kure Atoll, and Midway Atoll. 

 A few births also occur annually at Necker Island, 

 Nihoa, Niihau, and the main Hawaiian Islands. 

 Although monk seals occasionally move between 

 islands, females generally return to their natal colony 

 to pup. Contributing to the species' decline over the 

 past four decades have been human disturbance, 

 entanglement in derelict fishing gear, reduced prey 

 availability, shark predation, natural environmental 

 permrbations, attacks by aggressive adult male monk 

 seals on females and immature seals of both sexes 

 (called "mobbing"), and possibly disease. 



Ensuring monk seal recovery continues to be a 

 daunting task. The National Marine Fisheries Service 

 has lead responsibility for Hawaiian monk seals under 

 both the Endangered Species Act and the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act. To meet its responsibilities, 

 the Service, at the recommendation of the Marine 

 Mammal Commission, established the Hawaiian Monk 

 Seal Recovery Team in 1980. In recent years, the 

 team has met annually to review and provide advice 

 on recovery needs. The Service also has provided 

 recommendations on activities that could affect monk 

 seals pursuant to section 7 of the Endangered Species 

 Act, established regulations to reduce interactions with 

 commercial fisheries, and initiated programs to 

 monitor the status of monk seals throughout their 

 range, remove entangling debris from monk seals and 

 their habitat, reduce male mobbing, and characterize 

 monk seal foraging ecology and diet. 



Because all of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 

 except Kure Atoll are within either the Hawaiian 

 Islands National Wildlife Refuge or the Midway Atoll 

 National Wildlife Refuge, the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service also has major responsibilities regarding the 

 recovery of monk seals. Among other things, the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service assists with monk seal 



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